


Warmth

by rowofstars



Series: Once Upon a Ficlet [6]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, F/M, Ficlet, Fluff, Menstruation, Season/Series 02
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 11:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8622025
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rowofstars/pseuds/rowofstars
Summary: An anon on Tumblr asked for a heap of fluff and this is what happened. Belle is feeling out of sorts and Rumple lends her a helping hand.





	

**Author's Note:**

> There's mention of Belle's period. Uh, that's all I got.

Belle padded down the stairs quietly and shuffled into the living room where Rumple was sitting on the sofa. An old movie was playing on the TV, something his Mr. Gold persona had liked. She found that she rather liked them too. Watching stories play out in front of you any time you wanted was one of this world’s many marvels. Some of them were even based off of books and she was determined to read all of them and then watch them as well to compare.

But not tonight. Tonight she felt out of sorts. She’d started menstruating yesterday and while it was always a bit slow at first, the second day was usually the worst. It was like there was a knot in her belly, one that made her want to fold in half to try to relieve the pain. The occasional little jab that shot through her and right into her low back didn’t help either.

Somehow she didn’t remember being this bothered by them when she’d lived in the Dark Castle. But then she couldn’t say what might have been Rumple’s magic and what was her own inaccurate memories. Twenty-eight years of being cursed here had made some things a bit fuzzy.

Shaking her head, she crossed to the sofa and sat down beside her lover, biting back a groan as the movement made her ache again. Still, it was nice that she could think of him that way, even if she wanted nothing to do with sex right now.

Well, mostly.

Rumple frowned as Belle plopped down beside him and rested her head on his shoulder. He lifted his arm and put it around her, pulling her against his side. Normally, she preferred something lighter for bed, a silky nightgown or if she was in a particular mood something made of lace and not much else that stole his breath away. That usually lead to her wearing nothing at all, which was quite alright by him.

But tonight she was wearing a pair of his old pajama bottoms and a loose camisole top in a gray cotton. It wasn’t that he minded, just that it was different that usually meant something was wrong. She sighed and shifted, pulling her feet up and tucking them against the cushion.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

She shrugged. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him know what was going on. She’d never seen any embarrassment in the things the body did naturally, and they had reassured each other on more than one occasion that there should be no shame between them. Besides, he probably already knew anyway. This world had a wide assortment of things she could use, many of them disposable and filling up the little trash bin their en suite.

Rumple sighed. He knew her period had started, but she’d never talked about it. He didn’t know if it was bad or average or whatever. Of course before, if she had mentioned anything of the sort, he would have blanched and probably locked himself in his tower for a week. The Castle took care of all her needs once he’d given her a proper room. All she needed to do was think of something she was without and it would appear right where it needed to be.

“Are you sure?” he asked again. “Do you want a hot water bottle or something?”

She shook her head. So he did know. Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t been married before, though finding that out had been a bit of a surprise. Not quite as much as finding out he had a son. Still it made sense he’d know something of how these things worked.

Rumple sighed. “Belle,” he said kissing her forehead. “I just want to help you feel better.”

“I know,” she replied softly.

His hand started stroking her arm from her shoulder to her wrist as her hand laid over his knee. A small smile curved her lips. He was always so warm and just the proximity of him and his gentle touch was already helping. A minute later he stopped and moved a bit to pull a knit afghan over and cover their laps.

She made a little contented humming noise, and that made him feel like he was at least not doing the wrong thing even if there wasn’t much he could do to help directly.

As the movie neared its conclusion, Rumple felt a tug on his free hand which had been resting on top of the blanket on her knee. She curled into his side more, and lifted his hand, pulling it under the blanket and then under the elastic waist of the pajama bottoms she wore. For a second he was confused until she pressed his palm against her belly and sighed.

“You’re so warm,” she muttered and lifted her head briefly to kiss the edge of his jaw, just under his chin. He relaxed his hand and let her place it where she needed it, more than happy to be her personal heating pad.

Belle felt the tension in her gut lessen after just a few minutes. She didn’t know if he was using magic to make himself somehow even warmer, or if that was just a matter of his natural body heat. He’d been warm before too. She’d expected someone who looked rather like a lizard to have cool, scaly skin, but it was mostly just appearance. His hands were always soft, always warm. So was the rest of him too, and that might have been why once she’d hugged him in the forest she took every opportunity to continue to do so, much to his apparent confusion.

The movie ended and another one started up, one they had watched before just a few weeks ago. He sat up a bit and looked at her.

“Do you want to go to bed?” he asked.

Belle shook her head and put her head back on his shoulder as he leaned back against the sofa. “I like this one.”

His hand hadn’t been allowed to move since she’d put it on her, but he needed it for a moment to adjust the volume of the television. As soon as that was done, he put it right back where it had been and felt her smile against his neck.

The film that came on was one of the first he could remember watching in this world, and very appropriately so. A rich older man falling for his child’s governess and doing all manner of stupid things to chase her away. Of course she came back in the end, because she loved him just as much. Yes, he rather liked this one too.


End file.
